A Montgomery County police officer deployed a Taser to subdue a 24-year-old man police said held a knife in one hand and a baby in the other before threatening to kill himself, officials said Tuesday.

Jack Romero, whose address wasn’t immediately clear, was charged with two counts of second-degree assault after the Sunday night incident that took place inside an apartment along Lockwood Drive in the White Oak section of Silver Spring, police said.

Officers were called there for a possible domestic dispute. After arriving, police said, they saw Romero with a knife, and ordered him to drop it.

Romero retreated to a bedroom and shut the door. A woman told the officers there was a 5-month-old boy and a 3-year-old boy in the bedroom. Officers entered the bedroom and saw Romero kneeling next to the baby, according to police.

The officers kept ordering him to drop the knife, police said. He put it to his throat and threatened to kill himself, and then was struck by the Taser.

Court records indicate that Romero has not retained an attorney. John Kudel, who has represented him in the past, couldn't immediately be reached.

Dan Morse covers courts and crime in Montgomery County. He arrived at the paper in 2005, after reporting stops at the Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun and Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, where he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He is the author of The Yoga Store Murder.